Hit The Bar For Good - Tonight at H Street Country Club

In Thailand there is a mantra called "same same". Everything has to be the same. If you get a flushing toilet, I get a flushing toilet. If you get a TV, I get a TV .... If your daughter goes to the city to work, mine does, too. Culturally, the women have sole responsibility to provide for their family.  Unfortunately, many daughters, sisters and wives find themselves in the sex industry. A few years ago I was in Thailand talking with a girl who worked at a local strip club. I asked if she enjoyed her job and why she chose that industry. She said it was simple: she could work 3 or 4 different jobs - house cleaning, cooking, laundry service, etc., and those combined may or many not be enough.  Or, she could work in the strip club. If she was lucky, somebody would buy her time for the night... if you know what I mean.  She said that of course she doesn't enjoy her job; she chose the option that provides. We could look at that situation and judge her parents, or brush if off and say, "It was her decision to do that kind of work!"  Or, we could wonder at the power of the cycle and understand that she is a real person who happens to be stuck. And let's be honest,  everybody gets stuck in the pattern of "same same". We're all prone to do things we're not proud of to save face, to be accepted - even to get ahead.

There is an organization called The Well in Thailand. The Well provides holistic help to women stuck in the sex industry. They are stuck in a world that steals control over their lives and steals their sense of hope for a future.  The Well helps them find spiritual healing, physical healing, education, and provides job training to equip them with skills to earn a consistently sufficient income.

The Well operates off of a powerful and empowering truth: "same same" works in both directions.

About three years ago, my friend Cori Wittman left her successful job in DC as a lobbyist to serve with The Well full time. With a background in agriculture, she was drawn to the rural areas of Thailand where many of the "bar girls" come from. Through a growing youth development program that she and Jub (Cori's Thai BFF) are creating, the norm for youth in that village is graduating high school and going to college. It's young leaders who want more than a toilet and TV for their community.  It's teenage girls who are confidant in who they are beyond what their culture says about their body.

So let's hit the bar for good. Tonight at H Street Country Club, NCC's Thailand team is raising funds for Cori and Jub's youth development program. The Well is building a community center in Khon Kaen, a rural village in Issan. The land for the center costs a whopping $14,000. The center will provide housing for families to recover from drug and alcohol abuse, and will be a space for youth to be tutored and have productive extra curricular activities. And in the very immediate future, it will be living quarters for 12 teens (and counting!) who have chosen to LIVE with Cori and Jub because they want to grow up and be game changers in Thailand.

This is what Jim Collins would call a BHAG - a Big, Harry, Audacious Goal. There is one thing that keeps The Well, Cori, and Jub going. It's this question:  "What if one healthy village made another village stop and think, 'I want to be like that. I want to be the same'?" 

Join us at H Street Country Club tonight anytime from 7-10pm for a game of mini-golf. $15 pre-sale (email maegan@theaterchurch.com for tix), $20 at the door.  Can't go or want to donate more? Give here.

More Beautiful Thank You Think - A Lesson From Dove

There are things about myself that I don't exactly love. 

It's really easy to focus on those things. 

Those two thoughts are toxic. Unfortunately, they are also the backbone for a thought pattern that plagues almost every one of us. We don't measure up. Haven't accomplished enough. We don't have enough opportunities. We aren't far enough along in our careers. We don't have the right stuff. And the biggie for many girls as this study illustrates so well: we aren't pretty enough. If we just had __________, or could change __________ then life would be good.

I spoke with Dave Buehring last week and he gave me a helpful illustration. He said that an unhealthy thought life is like a balloon. The more we blow into unhealthy, untrue thoughts the bigger the balloon inflates in front of us.  It blocks our view of reality that is just beyond the balloon.  As believers of Jesus, an inflated balloon takes our focus off of the fundamental truth about who God is and who we are, and shifts our focus to an illusion based on what we lack. As the video states, "it impacts the choices that we make, the jobs we apply for, how we treat our children; it impacts everything."

Dave brought up three ways to deflate the balloon.

1. REBUKE thoughts that are straight up not from God. Dismiss them completely.  
2. REALIGN our thoughts to the truth. At the moment, knowing God's word well enough to be able to do this is my most practical motivation to read daily. Here are a few recent finds: 
   2 Corinthians tells us we are made new. 
   Ephesians tell us we are united with Christ, chosen, without fault in God's eyes, adopted into God's family, recipients of an inheritance from God, God's masterpiece. 
   Colossians tells us we are complete in Christ. 
   2 Timothy tells us we will have glory.
3. AFFIRM thoughts that are of God. Humility is not thinking more of who we are but also not thinking less of who we are (that would be pride and insecurity, respectively). Confidant humility finds its identity in the affirmation of Christ, and results in honoring or serving other people. Receiving affirmation from God and others (in a healthy way) transforms us into people who are outward focused instead of self-absorbed. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 says "Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ." When we don't control our thoughts, we are like robots... being led along a path out of our control. Think about your thoughts. You control them. We are not slaves to the enemy but free children of God. Let's not spend our freedom indulging in bad thinking patters and instead feast on the word of Christ.

Also... just a random musing on aging.  I love how this video celebrates the beauty of the process of growth. This may be obvious, but it didn't occur to me until now that the 40-year-old woman would look really funny in 20-year-old skin. How fake would that be? Yet we spend hours and hours and dollars and dollars trying to reverse the aging process. Grace Coddington, the creative director of Vogue magazine who is in her 70's recently said, "Just be however old you are and enjoy it!"  Let's get the most out of the season of life we are in. I'm embracing my soon to be 30-year-old crow's feet :) They represent to me the fact that I'm in a new place in life. I've had lots of experiences in the last 10 years that I wouldn't trade those crow's feet away for. Those experiences have been the raw material of God's grace and sovereignty and continual work of redemption in my life. There is a season for everything and He makes everything beautiful in (and for!) its own time (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  Even ourselves.

What I Learned From Disney World

I just spent the last few days at Disney World traveling with my friends Heather Zempel, who was speaking at a church in Orlando, and Emily Hendrickson. We surprised Emily with her first Disney trip. She thought she was dropping me off at the airport. Muahahah.

While we were stomping all over Magic Kingdom come, I began to ask a question that grew and grew.... How does Disney do it?! The rides, the shops, the costuming, and the decor are incredibly well themed down to the details; the staff seemed to each play the right role from performers to maintenance (and were happy about it), prices and quality were consistent throughout all the parks, and even though many rides were at least 15 years old, nothing appeared dated.

1.  Having Fun is Hard Work. Disney World is literally the size of San Francisco with 167 miles of roadway; it employs 59,000 people; has 31,000 rooms in 32 hotels; and staffs 255 food and beverage locations. They wash, dry, and press 240,000 pounds of linens every day; and have a garbage can every 21 steps!

2. The Environment Creates The Happiest Place on Earth. In Disney's book on leadership Creating Magic, Lee Cockerell says, "It's not the magic that makes it work; it's the way we work that makes it magic." Environments are different from experiences. The rides and shows are the experiences, but it is the environment that makes the experiences happy (or sad - as in the case of one dad who threw a fit when we got stuck on Splash Mountain).

3. Everybody is Important. "Didja have fun? Wanna to ride again?" This is what Cast Member Manuel asked us as soon as we got off the Rockin' Roller Coaster. That made our day. Not because we were immediately scuttled to the front of the line, but because out of all the people at Disney that day, Manuel chose us.  He made us feel important.

4. One Goal. What many of us know in theory about working as a team, Disney does in practice. When we truly understand our role is important - regardless of how unglorious it is - it makes the unit work seamlessly as a whole. I'm not sure if everyone at Disney loves their role, but of the staff we came across, I am convinced they love working for Disney and understand the value of their contribution.

5. The Reality of Disney's World. After we left the park, I looked out the car window at some apartment buildings and thought, "Disney really dropped the ball..." until I realized we weren't at Disney anymore. It was the regular world.  Excellence has a way of unsatisfying us with the ordinary. 

We worked hard and played hard at Disney. We probably walked 40 miles. As somebody responsible for creating environments where people can experience Christ (an experience I can't manufacture or have for them), Disney inspired me toward imagining the impossible for the church in every detail.  It reminded me how privileged I am to serve on a team that strives toward the goal of blessing our community, Disney style. And I am challenged to so distort the view of life without Christ that it makes those who don't know Him want in on the fun. 

God is Love

"Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment - to love one another - is the same message you heard before. Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it." (1 John 2:7)

This is the final God Anthology. In the end love is the attribute that requires the most tangible response from us. His holiness, faithfulness, wrath and mercy will send us to our knees in worship but his love sends us to our neighbor.

Think about it:

Jesus loved the Father enough to follow his voice to the cross. We have a very self-focused theology that sounds something like, "if I were the only one alive Jesus would still have died just for me." Yes, Jesus loves us and the Bible tells us so... goes the old song. We must remember that Jesus obeyed the Father. He went to the cross to please the Father. He recognized and responded to the Father's voice among all the other voices and influences that would speak to him during his life.

In the gospel of John, Jesus is always saying things like, "my message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me... I do nothing on my own authority but speak just as the Father taught me... I always do the things that are pleasing to Him..." He is constantly exalting the Father and constantly laying down his rights. "For I know where I came from and where I am going..." Jesus glorifies the Spirit by telling the early church that it is better that he leave them so the spirit will come. The Holy Spirit teaches us to fall in love with Jesus. Jesus allows us to know the Father. The Father glorifies the son. Each member of the trinity focuses wholly on honoring the other. That is the model we are to take to our neighbor.

Romans 12:10 says, "Let us outdo one another in showing honor." What would the world look like we outdid one another in showing honor? What if we acted like the trinity? We are called to be full-fledged participants.

God is Mercy

When I started working at NCC I was the administrative assistant. Part of my job was to handle bulk orders for Pastor Mark's books. Individuals, small groups, and coaches would request cases to give copies away as gifts or use them for book studies. Entire churches even requested them for sermon series. About a month into the job I received an order that I read as, "22 cases." I sent the books and took care of the paperwork. Done and done... until I received an email from the curiously grateful recipient thanking me for the extra books she received.

Scrambling back to the original email I wanted to cry: 22 BOOKS. Books, NOT cases. The math scrolled through my mind like a film strip. 24 Books per case times 22 cases is 528 books, which is exactly... 506 too many. Not the best way to begin a new job that I really wanted to stick around for. I should just quit now. I slloooowwwwly moseyed my way up to Pastor Mark's office to admit my mistake, ready to pay for the shipping and all the rest. At this point I need to change gears because you should know that Pastor Mark's office has a certain feel to it. It's like you've stepped into peace when you walk in. So not only am I breaking the news but I also felt like I was violating his serenity as well.

I sadly shared the story in a nervous and therefore inarticulate way. He just gave me a grin and goes, "that's okay."

That's all? It is not okay. This is really really bad. Maybe I didn't properly clarify: I sent CASES NOT BOOKS. But again he just says, "nah, it's okay." So there it was: the gospel preached to me not with words but with grace. And I even got to keep my whole paycheck. I expected reprimand and I got blessed.

Besides the fact I was on the receiving end of forgiveness, what made this story a picture of the gospel was that it had a price tag. It was at somebody's expense. It cost him something.

In 1 Corinthians 8 and 9 Paul talks about giving up his rights for the good of others.

And isn't that what Christ did? He gave up his rights, saw equality with God not as something to be grasped, humbled himself by becoming a man, lived a sinless life to be our spotless lamb and died the death of a criminal. It is all so unfair. It truly is the great reversal; a huge injustice. We rightfully celebrate the resurrections so let us never overlook the sheer inequality of the cross. Paul is simply mimicking what Christ has already done: given himself up for his neighbor.

The question is simple: Do our lives preach the gospel to one another? Does mercy - real, costly mercy - inundate the interactions we have?

Do we give up our rights to serve other people, especially if it is going to cost us something or be inconvenient? Do we know Christ and what he has done well enough to submit our lives to Him so we are free to genuinely love and outdo one another in showing honor?

Let's decide individually to be a community that builds one another up.

Shallow Small Groups

Right now Team D (The Discipleship Team) at NCC is in the process of making some nifty new improvements to Leadership 101 online training. It's the first small group training new leaders at NCC receive. If they don't get any other instruction before launching their group, Leadership 101 is what they need to know. It's my job to help think through content and creativity for those videos. My whole goal is to make meaningful and helpful training that is... really fun. Really creative. Really enjoyable. This is today's inspiration from www.rightnow.org:

Getting Older Doesn't Mean You Have To Grow Up

I love my friends. Last night I was reminded of yet another reason why they are crazy fun. Case in point:

It is the evening before my birthday. Girl time at the pool - check. DC3 - check. In bed early - double check... for about an hour. I hear a little knocking at my door. Bernita Bontrager whispers, "Maegan, are you in there?" She scuttles into my room in a cape insisting that I check my phone because I may have "an [as in singular] important text message." I had 39. All with this link....




Clue #1 - Go to the fabulous red-headed, air traffic control association's house. Answer = Marion Hixon. I would discover that each house I would go to had a video message with a birthday challenge and my next clue. The first one was Jeff all the way from Africa singing me happy birthday African style.

Clue #2 - You love karaoke. Go to the place where it happens all too regularly!! This is without question the Zempel house, which is home to everything karaoke. Ryan Zempel answers the door, "happy 13th birthday!" That guy... just last week I was mistaken for his child.

Will Johnston, Josh Stockstill, and Ryan sang Frank Sinatra's You Make Me Feel So Young. Ryan may want to reconsider if that message is really true. :)

Clue #3 - Ruth Erickson (of my very favorite Seattle friends!) told me via video about a Yanni concert at the Acropolis. That can only mean Andy Pisciotti's house, a fellow Greece and Rome travel buddy. Andy was just wrapping up a fantasy football gathering and several guys stayed to "support" and "sing me happy birthday." I think they also had some fun with it because they made me sing to get my next clue.

The final video was from Janean Abbott (Hawaii) and from there, blindfolded, I got in a car (along with a life size trophy from last year's fantasy football winner) blasting Pocket Full of Sunshine. I thought that was kind of ironic because I couldn't see.

Eventually, Jenilee LeFors, Heather Zempel and Bernita (aka the spirit helper) took me on the roof for my favorite meal, breakfast. We talked about the highlights of 27, from which there are many... Disneyland in the rain with Heather, being called "the apprentice of goon," moving to Capitol Hill with Jenilee, writing The God Anthology curriculum. Taking a team to Greece: three hour dinners, standing on Mars Hill, being in Corinth, talking in accents. Leadership Retreat, disappearing (it was a magic trick!), starting a blog, getting my first speaking engagement, having Bernita over for the summer, when Ruth came to visit, that I got to meet Jeff's family, that he got to meet mine, road tripping with the Johnstons, Disney on Ice, Handel's Messiah, Memphis, Wicked. The list goes on. Each of those things represents friendships that were made, lessons that were learned, people investing investing in my life and allowing me into theirs. They each involved me learning about others and taking the risk to be known.

My biggest highlight of year 27 is being able to work and live and play with people who wear all those respective hats. Who know which hat to wear, and when. I realized a little bit more tonight just how good of friends they are, and it inspired me to become a better friend to them and to others.

What's funny is that my memory of all the little highlights required their help for me think through them. I needed to be prompted, reminded. We'll forget our blessings if we don't take the time to remember them. But we don't get to enjoy them nearly as much if there isn't somebody there to remember them with us.We need community. We're shaped for it. We can't live without it. Our friends truly determine the direction and quality of our life (I think Andy Stanley said that). I'm so thankful for the community that I get to be part of, down the street or across the country.

Thank you to everyone who made my pre-birthday memorable and fun. Even Andy, who made me sing the Dixie Chicks a-capella to a bunch of guys and his dog. :)

So, here we go. Another year of growth. Another year of adventure. And in the words of my spirit helper person... we are predestined!